Wire recorder cartridge pack



' Feb. 17, 1959 w. H. HUTH ET AL 2,873,925

WIRE RECORDER CARTRIDGE PACK Filed Aug. 17, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet *1 A i W f w l INVENTORSJ (lama? jafiaileg aiiez" in? Feb. 17, 1959 w. H. HUTH ET AL 2,873,925

WIRE RECORDER CARTRIDGE PACK James Bai/e and a/ief f 77 12129? 5y 1959 I w. H. HUTH ET AL 2,873,925

WIRE RECORDER CARTRIDGE PACK Filed Aug. 17, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 )6 I I VENIORS.

7y (72212263 12. ail/25% and 11/42/2422" 77 "@W 2,3?3,925. Patented Feb. 17, 195.9

WIRE RECORDER CARTRIDGE PACK Walter H. Huth and James R. Bailey, Chicago, 111.; said Bailey assignor to said Huth Application August 17, 1954, Serial No. 450,332

1 Claim. (Cl. 242-541) This invention relates to a wire recorder cartridge compartment in peripheral coils randomly arranged and that progress inwardly from the circumferential wall of the compartment as shown in' the Barrett Patent No. 2,428,002. While such apparatus has been successful in eliminating synchronized rotatable takeup and feed spools and thereby lessened the complexity of usual mechanisms, the problems of wire tensioning, etc., the useful capacity of the storage compartments has not been economically used, and, in feeding the wire therefrom there has been considerable tendency for the randomlyoriented coils to become snarled and twisted and the thin wire to become kinked and knotted;

An object of this invention is to provide apparatus of such general organization in which the stated disadvantages and others are obviated. Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus in which the storage cavities are utilized economically by providing'a control guide structure" for the laying of the wire within the cavities resulting in a more orderly arrangement. Still another object is to provide in a magnetic wire recorder and reproducer having' a storage cavity in which the above control structure also functions for accepting the wire from the storage cavities by' progressive selection of the coils so that kinking, knotting or snarling of the wire, etc., is avoided.

Still another object results in the use of the above control guides whereby the wire may beextremely fine With the result that more wire length can be stored within the same storage cavity, the reproduction will have greater fidelity because of the fineness of the wire,'and the speed of movement of the wire past the recording head can be reduced whereby more intelligence can be recorded upon the same length of wire. Yet another object is to provide a driving means which will offer minimum resistance to the natural twisting and conformation of the wire.

Still another object is to provide a cartridge or packagetype unit for wire recorders and reproducers having a pair of storage cavities and which can be removably inserted for operation with the remaining recorder structure, the mounting means being of such character that the cartridge pack can be quickly and easily inserted and removed while being firmly supported when in position. Yet a further object is to provide an arrangement in which, upon insertion of a cartridge pack in the recorder or reproducer structure, the necessary electrical connections are automatically made. Additional objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the cartridge pack;

Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of the pack shown mounted in a parent recorder-reproducer apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view'taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the cartridge pack;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the circuit connections formed by insertion of the cartridge pack;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a modified form of cartridge;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view showing a further modification;

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view through a modified cartridge pack in which the wire is mechanically controlled to level' wind;

Fig. 11 is a section taken upon line 11-11 in Fig. 10; and

Fig. 12 is a section taken on line 12-12 in Fig. 10.

The cartridge pack is designated in the drawings by the letter A or A as the case may be and the parent recording or reproducing device with which the cartridge assembly may be used is designated with the letter B. The device B may be substantially conventional including the electronic amplifier except for the changes that will be noted hereinafter and which render the same usable with the cartridge pack disclosed herein. The device B may be equipped with a speaker 10, a record button 11, offon button 12, record-listen button 13, and rewind button- 14 with associated switches. The necessary circuit elements interconnecting these members and rendering the device operative are well known in the art including the use of transistors andfor purposes of simplicity arenot shown and will not be described.

As is shown best in Figs. 2 and 3, the device B is equipped with a top wall 15 having a pair of spacedapart mounting ears or standards 16' and 17 projecting upwardly therefrom. The ears 16 and 17 are adapted to be received between and to be frictionally gripped by the depending side walls 18 and 19 provided by the cartridge assembly A. Carried by the top wall 15of the device B and extending upwardly therefrom between the ears 16 and 17 is an eraser head 20, a recorder head 21,:

and a pair of preferably synchronously driven feed rollers 22 which comprises a roller which will be referred to as a capstan 23 and a pinch roll 24 which is movable towards and away from the capstan 23. Both rollers 23 and 24' are preferably equipped with rubber tires 26 and 28, respectively, and are carried by shafts 25 anud 27..

The movement of roll 24 is such that it is shiftable so that it can be moved fromcngagcment with the capstan 23' to permit insertion therebetween of the fine paramagnetic wire 29 or to stop the movement of the wire, and moved scribed, it preferably being done electromagnetically. It 'will be appreciated that if the device B isrboth a recording and reproducingdevice, the head 21 may be a playback head as well as a recorder head.

The cartridge assembly A comprises a casing-member .50 that is provided with a ccntralopening 31 therethrough asv'asas defined longitudinally by the depending walls 18 and 19. The opening 31 is of sufiicient size so that it readily receives therein the rolls 23 and 24 as well as the eraser head and recorder head 21. The end walls 32 and'33 ofthe casing member 30 are preferably annular and may be equipped centrally with a laterally-extending boss" 34. Cap members 35 are adapted to be secured to the end walls of the casing member by means of the bands 36. The bands extend between the end walls and the caps and space the same apart and provide the peripheral closure wall that defines the storage cavities or compartments 37. It is apparent that the caps 35 are annular and conform dimensionally to the end walls 32 and 33, and preferably each cap is equipped with an inwardlyextending boss 38 which is in general alignment with the bosses 34 provided by the end walls.

As is clear from Fig. 5, the storage cavities or chambers 37 provided by the containers at the ends of the casing member 38 are annular and are adapted to receive therein the coils 39 that are formed when the wire 29 is'fed into and laid within the cavities. Preferably, the caps 35 are removable from the cavities 37, access thereto being provided for loading and fastening the wire ends in place. I

Each of the container members, and specifically the portions thereof formed by the end walls 32 and 33 of the casing member, are provided with openings 40 extending therethrough that communicate with the cavities 37 and with the opening 31 in general alignment with the feed rolls 22. Mounted within each of the openings 40 is a control or guide member 41 that is preferably freely rotatable relative to the storage containers and the casing member. Rotation of the guide members may be afforded in any suitable manner and, for example, the guide members may be rotatable within spaced-apart bearings 42 and 43 which are mounted within the openings 40. The axial position of the guide members 41 within the bearings 42 and 43 may be determined by the collars 44 and 45 which are carried by the guide members and which engage respectively the outer surfaces of the bearings 42 and 43.

Preferably each of the guide members 41 comprises an elongated tube having a flared inner end 46, a relatively straight and horizontal portion 47 which lies along the longitudinal. axis of the cavity 37, and a laterally-turned end portion 48 which is substantially normal to the horizontal portion 41 and, therefore, substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the cavity 37. A relatively large radius is provided so that a smooth and gradual curve connects the end portion 48 with the horizontal portion 47. If desired, the end of the portion 48 may be flared, as is indicated at 49, and preferably a slight kink 50 or relatively sharp fiexure is provided adjacent the flared end 49.

The casing member 30 may be formed from any suitable material, metal or plastic, stamped or molded, but preferably, for example, is molded from the material referred to by the trade-mark Lucite. may be employed to form the caps 35. The bands 36 are preferably formed of an electricity conducting material such as copper extending at least across the bottom portion of the cartridge for electrical contact reasons that will be hereinafter explained.

Ordinarily to load the cartridge initially, the cartridge assembly A will be supplied with a length of magnetic wire coiled by a special loading fixture which lays the wire in neutral condition within one of the storage cavities 37 with the lead end secured to the contact 55. The other end of the wire is threaded in place to the other cavity, fastened to the contact 56 and the caps 35 assembled. The cartridge will then be inserted over the verticallyextending ears 16 and 17 and by this operation therecording-reproducing head .21, eraser head 20, and feed rolls 22 will be properly positioned for coaction with the wire29. The wire thus placed is ready to be fed through The same material the members 20 and 21 and between the feed rolls 22 and into the flared end 46 of the appropriate guide member 41, thereby to be fed into the other cavity in proper place. The device B will then be adjusted or set to record, and upon actuation of the appropriate mechanism the wire 29 will be gripped between the rollers 22 and will be fed through the guide 41 and into the cavity 37. Simultaneously therewith, the wire will be withdrawn from the other cavity 37 through the guide member associated therewith and through the recorder head 21.

The action of the coil wire when withdrawn from the cavity 37 is similar to that encountered when a relatively flexible elongated member such as a garden hose is coiled, and thereafter the hose uncoiled by walking away with one end thereof. When 'this is done it is noted that a twisting force or torque is experienced. The same is true of the wire 29 when it is withdrawn from its storage cavity. This twist causes a reaction against the guide 41 and since it'is freely rotatable, the guide can follow the coils within the cavity in orderly position, whereby kinking of the wire, knotting, etc., thereof are almost com pletely eliminated.

This twisting force within the wire as it is uncoiled is also present when it is pushed into the opposite storage cavity 37 and it reacts against the guide 41 thereof. Since this guide is also rotatable, the wire is laid within the storage cavity, in a generally orderly manner, in such a fashion that the storage space of the cavity is economically utilized. The coils are first formed about the peripheral surface of the cavity, or specifically against the band 36, and progress inwardly therefrom, as is shown in'Fig. 5. Precisely the proper force required to lay the wire within the receiving cavity 37 is provided by the torque or force that develops in the wire while it is withdrawn from the storage cavity.

With the arrangement shown, there is substantially no tensile strain upon the wire 29 for the feed rolls 22 simply withdraw from one cavity the same length of wire that is freely laid within the other cavity. Therefore, a very thin wire may be employed, one that is much smaller in size than that previously usable to the end that the amount of intelligence impressed thereon can be greatly increased because the speed of the wire as it passes through the recording head may be reduced (the intelligible recording speed of movement permissible of a Wire through a recording head is generally inversely proportional to the diameter of the wire).

The connections which are necessary to incorporate the cartridge unit A in the electric circuit of the device B are made automatically when the cartridge is inserted onto the spaced cars 16 and 17. The connections that are made are diagrammatically shown in Figs. 6 and 7 where the recording head and erasing head are assembled as permanent parts of the cartridge. When the cartridge A is placed in Working position, contact members 51 and 52 carried by the recorder B are engaged by the bands 36 to serve as closed switches. Similarly, the contact members 53 and 54 are engaged by the contact points 55 and 56 respectively which are provided along the inner surface of the end walls 32 and 33. Moreover, two other sets of contacts '79 and 71 are closed when the cartridge is mounted in place.

The electric circuit completed by these connections is shown in Fig. 7. For purposes of illustration, an electron discharge device 57 in the form of a triode vacuum tube forms a part of the intelligence modulator that will be arranged with the speaker. The tube 57 will have the anode thereof connected to a suitable source of power as indicated, and driven by the anode circuit will be the primary winding 58 of a transformer 59. As is known in the art, the modulations will influence the -magnetic field appearing about the primary winding 53,

side of the secondary winding is connected to .groun I while the other side is connected through the switch 13a, operated by the listen button 13 selectively to energize the speaker or to energize the recorder head 21 through the contact 71 and the switch 13b also operated by the button 13. The other side of the recorder head is connected through contact 54 to ground. Switch 13b cooperates with switch 13a to connect the recorder head 21 to the grid 57g when the secondary winding 60 is connected to the speaker for playback, when the listen button 13 is actuated. The switches reverse their positions when the record button 11 is pressed. Thus, automatically, upon insection of the cartridge pack in position upon the spaced ears 16 and 17 provided by the device B, the circuits for both recording and playing back will be conditioned for operation. It will be noted that the switch 130 which is in the erasing head circuit through contact 70 and a suitable power source X, is normally closed but is opened when the listen button 13 is pressed. Also, the switch 130 is opened when the rewind button 14 is actuated.

In this connection, it is to be noted that the bands 36 are in circuit with the contacts 51 and 52 when the Wire 29 is present in the cavities and this circuit includes the coil 63 of a low current relay which actuates a solenoid 69 that controls the pinch roller 24. The switch 14a determines which band contact is elfective to close the circuit that energizes the solenoid in relation to the direction the wire is running. Then when enough wire is withdrawn to break contact with the band 36 on the emptied cavity, the solenoid is de-energized and the pinch roller is moved away from the capstan 23 to stop the feed of the wire before it is torn loose from its securement and threaded relationship.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Fig. 8 illustrating a cartridge pack B which is substantially the same as that heretofore described, except that in the casing member 70 the feed rolls 72 are interposed between the record-playback head 73 and the eraser head 74. Otherwise, the structure is substantially identical to that heretofore described, and a detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

In the modification shown in Fig. 9, designated by the letter B", the casing member and all of the detailed structure is the same as that shown in Fig. 8, but in this case two sets of feed rollers 75 and 76 are employed, and, interposed therebetween is the record-playback head 77 for handling wire which has already been erased.

Referring to Figs. 10, 11 and 12 carriages 80 slidably mounted in the cartridge B in sleeves 81 are employed to support the guides 48 so that the wire 29 can be level wound in the cavities. This level wind is effected from the reduced end 82 of one of the rollers 22 which drives a heart-shaped cam 83 through a speed reduction mechanism 84. A follower 85 engages the cam and converts the rotary motion to a reciprocating motion through a yoke 86 notched as at 87 to engage in cooperating grooves 88 upon the carriages 80. Once supplied with wire the cartridge B" has a predetermined pattern of level winding that is not changed over long periods of use even though removed and reinstated repeatedly.

Referring again to Fig. 7, it is noted that the contact 8 members 53 and 54 are grounded and since these members engage the terminals and 56 which are electrically connected to the storage containers, the containers will be brought to ground potential. Thus, any stray magnetic fields that might be developed within the storage containers and static charges that might be developed therein are dissipated to ground and the magnetic wire is not then affected by unwanted magnetic fields, etc., within the storage containers.

The dents or sharp bends 50 formed in each of the tubular guide members 41 coperate with the wire 29 as it moves through the guide members either into the storage chamber or when being withdrawn therefrom, although other forms of guide members may be used including the fishing rod and eye-like relationship. The twist or torque present in the wire is efifective when the wire passes the dent 50 to rotate the guide member 41, whereby when the wire is withdrawn from a storage cavity the guide member follows the peripheral coils therein and progressively receives the proper coil for withdrawal. On the other hand, when wire is fed into a storage cavity, the twisting action of the wire in combination with the dents 50 cause the guide member to rotate, whereby the wire is coiled peripherally in closely arranged turns. In the latter instance, space is utilized more efficiently and the storage cavity can hold more wire. In the first instance, the wire is withdrawn in more orderly fashion.

While in the foregoing specification embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in considerable detail for purposes of making adequate disclosure, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changes may be made in these details without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention.

We claim:

In a cartridge pack adapted for use with wire recorders and reproducers of the type described herein, a substantially cylindrical casing equipped at its ends with stationary containers, each container providing a storage cavity therein and having axially aligned opposed openings which provide access for a recording wire to the cavities, a guide member rotatably mounted in each of said openings and being equipped with a longitudinally extending portion along the axis of said cavity, said longitudinal portion being tubular, each of said guide members being provided with a laterally curved end portion internal of said cavities, and being adapted to be rotated by the recording wire passing therethrough, whereby a more orderly distribution of the wire within the cavity is effected.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 373,463 Lenox Nov. 22, 1887 420,909 Lehberger Feb. 9, 1890 1,137,879 Marzynski May 4, 1915 2,019,128 Furst Oct. 29, 1935 2,132,573 McDonald Oct. 11, 1938 2,227,442 De Millar Ian. 7, 1941 2,428,002 Barrett Sept. 30, 1947 2,457,699 Marsen Dec. 28, 1948 

